When
we helped form the national media-reform network Free Press, we were
motivated by an understanding that the great debates about media policy
played out behind closed doors in Washington, with corporate puppeteers
pulling the strings of politicians and regulators. Free Press, which is
celebrating its tenth anniversary, set out to change the dynamic by
securing a place for citizens in those deliberations. We always knew
this involved more than just a critique of what was wrong. There had to
be bold proposals for how to make things better, proposals that would
inspire Americans to join mass movements to counter the mass money and
influence of the telecommunications industry.

An opportunity we had not anticipated helped make our network a major
player more rapidly than we had ever imagined. Free Press took shape
early in 2003, as George W. Bush was selling his war in Iraq. Americans
recognized that media outlets had let them down by tipping coverage in
favor of a wrongheaded rush to war. When administration allies on the
FCC proposed greater consolidation of media ownership by the same
interests that had facilitated an unnecessary war, Free Press and allies
like Common Cause, MoveOn and Code Pink got an unprecedented 3 million
Americans to signal their opposition. The courts put consolidation on
hold, citing the public outcry.
Early victories created a sense that we could pressure Congress and
regulators to do the right thing. Free Press and other groups achieved
significant success with those strategies, forcing the FCC to consider
minority ownership issues, fighting cuts to public broadcasting,
exposing corporate and government spin masquerading as news, and
defending Net neutrality and a free and open Internet. But big media
corporations have reasserted themselves. They are spending more freely
on campaigns and lobbyists than ever before, reminding all of us that
whichever party is in power, the money power rules in Washington.
It’s time to get back to our roots—the grassroots—and organize
citizens into a media-reform movement so big and so bold it cannot be
denied. The people are ready. On our current book tour we have spoken to
thousands of Americans. We’ve heard the fury at a media system that
fails to cover elections but gladly pockets billions for spewing
negative campaign ads; that facilitates government and corporate data
mining; that creates cartels rather than independent journalism.
We are more certain than ever that Americans can be organized around ideas for sweeping media reforms. They include:§ Increase public funding for public media.
Newspaper and broadcast layoffs, cutbacks and closings have gutted
newsrooms, and digital media are not coming close to filling the void.
We are as excited by the investment Pierre Omidyar is making in a new
venture with Glenn Greenwald as we are by every serious investment in
serious journalism. But there will never be enough enlightened
billionaires to fill the information voids that have opened. We need
enlightened policies. Instead of merely opposing cuts, reformers must
fight for massive expansion of public broadcasting, community media and
nonprofit digital experiments. The hallmark of a strong democracy is
public support for great independent and aggressive journalism—and a
great deal of it.§ Give the Internet back to the people. The Internet
has spawned the greatest wave of monopoly in history. Thirteen of the
thirty-two most valuable publicly traded US firms are primarily Internet
companies, and many of those thirteen have a market share in their core
activities approaching that of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil
monopoly in its prime. This is simply untenable for democratic
governance. One place to start: eliminating the government-created
cartel of Verizon, AT&T and Comcast, which gives the United States
some of the lousiest, yet most expensive, cellphone and Internet service
in the world. Washington should establish free high-speed broadband for
every American.§ Restore privacy. Coverage of the NSA scandal has
focused on data mining by the government. But private corporations and
political consultants have access to the same information, and they’re
using it to manipulate our choices as consumers and citizens. The
restoration of privacy rights may begin with limits on the NSA, but it
should extend to strict regulation of, and limits on, the digital data
that can be collected from us, and how corporations and politicians can
use those data to manage discourse.
These are starting points for a broader reform moment in which we
must limit the influence of negative campaign ads while extending the
range of political debate; more tightly regulate the commercial
carpet-bombing of our children; and make media literacy central to
public education. That moment must be characterized, above all, by
organizing so that no matter who runs things in Washington, politicians
will know that the people want media that err on the side of diversity
and democracy—not profiteering and propaganda.In August, Leticia Miranda wrote about deregulation of the telecom giants and how it affects working-class and minority people.